Wichita eagle., 1887-08-24


with the glass A random shot ougns
scare him up, and fred for the center OF the
bush.
It wasn't three seconds after l pulled trig-
ger before the lion was coming for me 1ui
tilt, his eyes blazing, his teeth showing ana
his tail lashing the air like that of mad bull
In such emergencies one does not stop 70
think. Nor can one afterward just remem-
Der what took place. All l know Is that
put bullet into his head when he was less
than forty feet away, and that his momen-
tum brought him almost to my feet. he had
ceased kicking in ten seconds, for there was
hole above bis eyes into which baby could
have thrust its fist, and be had been grew
ously wounded by the other shot. He was
grand, big fellow, in the full prime OF LIE,
and when / came to examine his limbs was
astonished at the tremendous muscular power.
had my foot on him when heard shouts
and shots and a terrible scream from my
horse, and wheeled around to see him gal
Looping down to the edge Of the desert, with
the Eoness fairly in the saddle and using her
teeth on his neck His screams were some
thing appalling. Near the spot where he had
been tied were two of my friends on horse
back. They had witnessed a part OF my adj
ventures through the glass, and had saddied
up as fast as possible. While they were yet
hundred rods from my horse the lioness had
come out Of the woods, full OF defiance ana
revenge, and had made straight for the horse.
They fired their guns and waved their hats
and shouted, but she would not turn from
her course. As she sprang upon HIM the
horse broke away, and it Was PLAIN 70 us
that she would kill him before she left hlm.
The two hunters rode up to me and we
opened fire on horse and Ioness. The
horse did not run straight out upon the
desert, but rushed wildly up and down along
its edge, and the beast tore great pieces OF
flesh off his neck as he rushed. One OF our
bullets hit her, and another brought the horse
down just as he was opposite us He came
down all in heap, fell over on his side with
a long drawn groan, and the llonesS placed
her paws on his body, and stood there SrowI-
ing at Us and showing her teeth in savage
manner She certainly had more pluck than
the lion.
"Look out for herl" cried my comrades in
chorus, but the advice was useless. l don't
know that the beast saw them at ALL She
seemed to have eyes only for me, perhaps be-
cause was on foot. l was, indeed, the only
one she need fear, for the horses of my COM
panions were SO restless that they threatened
with every move to unseat their riders, and
after two or three minutes bolted in spite OF
rein and spur and made for camp. l have
often wished for photograph Of the lioness
as she stood there over the dead horse-head
up, lips drawn, eyes flashing, tail switching,
and such warning in her low growing as
would try any mans nerve. l had tumbled
her mate over with a good shot, and l felt
not the least fear of this beast stood for
minute with half raised carbine and looked
her square in the eyes, expecting every second
that she would spring. Seeing that she was
waiting for me to open the battle, l jerked
the gun to my face and gave her shot. The
big bullet struck her fair in the throat and
knocked her over backward. and she was
dead by the time had thrown out the empty
shell and advanced to the horse
Next day witnessed q new phase OF hon
nature. Three or four Of us had gone down
the edge of the desert to where wooded cape
pushed itself out for half mile 1t was about
o'clock iii the afternoon, and we ERE some
what separated as we scOu6ed along, carefully
surveying the edges of the forest, when all Of a
sudden we were startled by the roar OF a lion.
An old solitary had been hiding under bush
on the desert side Of us. He was maHgey old
fellow, his color faded, Lis name dropping
out and his teeth worn down until lie could
hardly eat He had probably been driven
out of society, the same as the elephant and
rhinoceros are when they get too mean to be
put up with any longer, and he was ugly
enough to attack anybody OF anything. He
was thirty rods to the left of lis, and was SO
well hidden that We should have passed him
unobserved had he remained quiet. He made
directly for Capt Cameron, who was the
center man. Each of US fired snap shot,
but without effect, and then the captain did
q neat piece of work. Els horse seemed par
aIyzed with fear, and he slid off on the far side
and took run for it to get chance to shoot
The lion came on, covering twenty feet at
every bound, and sprang for the horses neck
He had too much spring in him and went
clear over, and then the horse rcgalned his
pluck and rushed away.
The lion was now left alone ana uncovered
on the plain. He was certainly put out by
his failure TO seize the horse, for his tail was
down, and he looked uneasy. The two Of Us
who were still mounted could not lie sure of a
shot, while Capt Cameron was having some
trouble to get rammed shell ont OF his
breechloader, and he worked away in Il cool
and methodical manner, without even glanc-
ing up at the lion 1t was strange tableau
for two or three minutes. The lion looked
from one to the other, WINGED like dog e1-
pecting punishment, and l thought sure he'd
bolt. All of sudden he seemed TO remem-
Der that he was lion instead of cur, and he
uttered deep growl, dashed the ground with
his tail and started to advance upon Cameron.
He hadn't gone ten feet before his courage
oozed out and he sat down on his hams.
threw his head up and howled like scared
dog. l have no doubt that one Of Us could
have advanced and driven him off with a
switch, but the captain was now ready, and
he took aim and rolled the poor old fellow
over with ball behind the shoGlder-New
Work SIM